Archive for the ‘VPS Server Hosting’ Category

Windows web hosting services are available to provide Windows web developers with a web hosting environment in which they can host their websites, whilst being able to benefit from the main features that the Windows operating system has to offer. Windows web hosting services usually set you back a bit more than most Linux web hosting plans, but for Windows web developer the extra cost can be justified through the features that are provided with a Windows web hosting plan that just aren’t available with any Linux web hosting plan. A Windows hosting company will be able to provide you with a more targeted web hosting solution that can be tailored to your specific requirements if necessary, as well a support that will allow you to get the most out of the Windows operating system through your own web applications. Windows is available on a multitude of web hosting services meaning that regardless of the level of web hosting you require, there should be a Windows web hosting plan available for you; Windows shared web hosting plans are available for those with smaller budgets, but for bigger businesses who require more scalable web hosting services there are Windows VPS servers and Windows dedicated servers available. Furthermore, with a Windows dedicated web hosting service you can choose from the different versions of the Windows server operating system as this will provide you with another opportunity to save money on the overall cost of your web hosting service.

What should I look for in a Windows web hosting company?

There are certain things you should look for in any web hosting company as these will guarantee that you are provided with a high quality web hosting service that will provide you with the features that you require. The main factors to consider in a web hosting company include:

Specialist Windows knowledge – it is important for any Windows hosting company to have intricate knowledge of the Windows operating system and how it functions so that they are able to deliver reliable Windows web hosting products that contain all of the features that you would expect of a Windows hosting package, plus more – all web hosting companies will have technical support staff of some sort on tap to help out customers if they need it and by choosing a specialist Windows hosting company, you can be sure that these members of staff will be highly trained in everything related to Windows web hosting and the Windows operating system, thus meaning that they will be able to provide you with the assistance and knowledge required to develop a web application that will make the most of the hosting environment

Reliable support – regardless of the form of web hosting you are looking to use or the operating system that you wish to be hosted on, you should always look for a web hosting company that will be able to offer you a high level of customer service – most web hosting companies employ 24×7 support teams meaning that if you have an issue with your Windows web hosting package, there should be someone available for you to speak to regardless of the day it is or the hour – furthermore, you can expect the support teams of Windows hosting companies to be able to provide you with the support that you need in order to get your Windows web application working on your Windows web hosting service – if you feel that the support offered by your web hosting provider isn’t up to the standard that you expect then it is important to consider that most web hosting companies will be willing to rectify this to retain your custom

Feature-rich Windows hosting packages – although most Windows web hosting companies will be able to provide you with the basic core features with any Windows web hosting plan, it is important for you to review the additional features that may be available with a web hosting service as these generally add value to a web hosting plan and will provide you with additional functionality that you can use to expand your Windows web applications – however, you will need to take into consideration that in some cases the additional features of a web hosting plan make increase its price.

Why should I consider a web hosting company that specialises in Windows web hosting?

Choosing a web hosting company that specialises in Windows web hosting will put you in a better position when it comes to receiving reliable and targeted support that will solve your problems in a fast and responsible manner. A Windows web hosting company is likely to be making use of specialist support staff who will be highly knowledgeable of the Windows platform, allowing them to provide customers with in-depth assistance that will ensure that you are provided with value for money with your web hosting plan.

A specialist Windows web hosting company is sure to be using the latest technologies, something that will be a massive benefit to Windows web developers who are looking to include the highest level of functionality with their Windows web applications to make them as interesting as possible. The issue with smaller web hosting companies is that they can sometimes lack the funds required to have all of the latest and greatest technologies in place, meaning that it is down to larger web hosting companies to offer new technologies first so that they can then set the standard.

In conclusion, although the web hosting services provided by a specialist Windows web hosting company may be more expensive than those offered by a generic web hosting provider, the extra cost is likely to be worth it in the long run as there are many benefits to be had from the support that you will be able to receive. You can also expect to be provided with a higher level of uptime when using a specialist Windows web hosting company as the servers of such companies are usually better managed, providing you with a stable hosting experience and a sustainable level of uptime.

A dedicated web hosting service can provide you with a wide variety of benefits that will allow you to develop your website to a new level to increase the number of visitors that you receive and to ultimately increase the revenue that you receive. The term dedicated web hosting is used by web hosting companies to promote their VPS server and dedicated server hosting offerings, primarily because these are the two forms of web hosting that can offer a dedicated web hosting environment whilst all other forms of web hosting can only offer a shared web hosting environment. When compared to other forms of web hosting, dedicated web hosting services are far more powerful and provide you with great room for expansion if this is what you are after; alternatively, a dedicated web hosting package will allow you to use applications and services that aren’t available with shared web hosting packages to increase the functionality of your website. As a dedicated hosting customer you are also offer far more options; as well as being able to save money through providing yourself with support as an experienced user, you can also vary your VPS server or dedicated server to match your specific requirements in terms of the resources purchased.

Dedicated web hosting is a term that can be applied to both VPS server hosting and dedicated server hosting because either of these forms of web hosting can provide you with a dedicated web hosting environment. A dedicated web hosting environment provides you with the ability to install any applications of your choice so that you are able to customize your web hosting service to become something that you want it to be, rather than having a web hosting environment that has been configured in the eyes of your web hosting provider. It is very easy to take advantage of dedicated web hosting because as well as being able to choose the applications that you use, you can also purchase the resources that you require rather than having to pay for hosting resources that you are never going to use up, as is the case with purchasing pre-determined web hosting services; with a VPS server you can easily purchase extra virtual resources as per your need, whilst with a dedicated server you can always choose to purchase additional hardware for your dedicated server. For most businesses the upgrade to dedicated web hosting is highly beneficial in itself because it constitutes a good reason for expanding the operations of their website.

There are many different hardware features that make up a VPS server hosting service or a dedicated server hosting service and it is important for you to get the right balance of resources and features so that you are able to configure a server hosting solution that you can deem as appropriate for your needs. Although a VPS server may perform differently to a dedicated server, the principles are still the same and you are still provided with guaranteed resources that can be scaled as per your requirements. Dedicated servers can be a lot harder to configure during the order process because as well as being presented with multiple hardware options, there are different hardware configurations to choose from such as different hard drive configurations (such as RAID). As with any form of web hosting, you will also be presented with a choice of operating systems; Linux and Windows are offered by most web hosting companies providing dedicated web hosting and it is important for the choice to be there because all web hosting customers will have different technical requirements when you consider the number of different applications and scripting languages that are available for use these days.

There are many benefits to using server hosting above all lower forms of web hosting, despite the fact that a server hosting service will set you back more than a shared or reseller web hosting package. For businesses that are outgrowing their shared web hosting package, a VPS server or dedicated server will be able to provide them with the resources necessary to host a large scale website without the need to upgrade the hosting server for a long time to come. A VPS server or dedicated server will require skill to be managed properly, but of you are knowledgeable with server operating systems then managing a server should come naturally to you easily; however, for the less experienced then managed server hosting services are available an extra premium, plus you need to choose a very good web hosting company to receive a good level of support as a fully managed customer. Server hosting is available from any large web hosting company; smaller web hosting companies often struggle to offer VPS servers and dedicated servers because of the level of support needed and the level of technical knowledge that is required on their part, furthermore larger web hosting companies have the capital required to offer a reliable network and support infrastructure.

Remote Desktop is a popular feature of Windows dedicated hosting because it provides you with a way in which you can manage your Windows server directly using the Windows GUI meaning that you don’t have to be so reliant on command line interfaces as you have to be with Linux dedicated hosting. By using Remote Desktop you are connected to your Windows server securely; you will be able to view and interact with the GUI of Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 and access all of the applications that you have installed on your Windows VPS server or Windows dedicated server. In order to connect to a server using Remote Desktop you will need to have either a Windows VPS server or Windows dedicated server hosting service, as is offered by many web hosting companies; you will also need either a Mac or Windows desktop computer from which you are going to be accessing your server. Although the Remote Desktop client is provided with all of the latest versions of the Windows operating system by default, if you are going to be using a Mac desktop computer then you will need to download the client separately from the Microsoft website; currently no other desktop operating systems are supported.

When you purchase a VPS server or dedicated server you will be provided with the opportunity to choose a managed or an unmanaged server hosting service. If you are an experienced user then an unmanaged server will provide you with the opportunity to make the most of your skills by configuring your server to work in a way that will suit your needs perfectly. As an unskilled or inexperienced user you are going to find a fully managed server to be the best in meeting your web hosting needs; your chosen web hosting company will support you all the way through the process from the setup of your server to helping you run it once you are established and have transferred all of your data over from your old web hosting service. Most web hosting companies are able to offer unmanaged server hosting services, although it takes a larger web hosting company for managed server hosting to be offered because they need to have the support resources and personnel in place to cope with large numbers of requests that may come flooding in during peak times. If you wish to manage your own server but don’t have the skills required then there are many websites and other resources available online that you can use at your disposal to help you to learn the basics of managing your chosen server operating system.

Businesses are becoming more demanding with the levels of uptime that they are offered with their web hosting services these days as their online presence becomes ever more crucial to their survival. The reliability of a web hosting package can be affected by both internal factors and external factors and although external factors may be hard to control, any reputable web hosting company should have full control of the internal resources that could have an affect on how accessible your website is from the outside. It is common knowledge that businesses which benefit from their websites financially will be willing to pay more up front for a high uptime web hosting service because they want the guarantee that customers can purchase their goods and services online at any time without any hassle – they don’t want to have to worry about whether their websites and servers are going to be online or not. For larger customers some hosting companies may offer Service Level Agreements to secure a more lucrative contract because an SLA will guarantee that the web hosting company has to provide the customer with a certain amount of uptime each month; if a web hosting company fails to meet an SLA, then in most situations the customer is eligible for compensation.

cPanel is a popular control panel that is used by web hosting companies who wish to offer web hosting in a Linux environment and cPanel is seen by most as being the most popular control panel available for Linux web hosting. When purchasing a Linux server, you will be given the option to have a control panel installed for you; although there are various other control panels to choose from, cPanel server hosting will provide you with the resources and utilities that are necessary to host multiple domains under their own client accounts. If you are looking to start your own web hosting company then cPanel is the ideal control panel to use because as well as allowing you to create your own web hosting client accounts, you can also develop your own web hosting plans based on the resources that you wish to provision to your own customers; this allows you to keep tight control around the resources that you wish to keep spare but also allows you to be generous with the resources assignments that you provide to your web hosting clients. Most web hosting companies can offer Linux VPS server hosting for those who are on a lower budget than those wishing to use Linux dedicated server hosting; although both can provide you with a dedicated web hosting environment, the resources available in both cases will differ greatly.

Plesk is a popular control panel available for Windows and Linux that allows you to manage your web hosting account with minimal effort, allowing you to focus attention on other factors that they may be more important to the development of your website. Plesk is a premium control panel meaning that it is able to offer you the features that may not necessarily be available with open source control panels and other equivalents; the investment here means that web hosting companies using Plesk are able to provide feature-rich web hosting services that can rival those offered by competitors. Although Plesk is available for Linux, it is more popular with those using Windows web hosting as it can provide you with a more defined level of integration with the Windows operating system than any alternatives. As well as being offered by default by most Windows web hosting companies for their shared hosting companies, Plesk is usually an additional option for those who are using Windows VPS server hosting and Windows dedicated server hosting, but in this case you will need to pay extra for the control panel. A comparison of Plesk hosting against other control panel-based web hosting services identifies that Plesk is able to provide a more stable hosting solution than its competitors.